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Minnesota Vikings Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Fantasy Football News 2023

Most Recent Fantasy Football News & Updates

Vikings WR K.J. Osborn (concussion) is not listed on the final injury report and will play vs. the Broncos on Sunday night. Assuming WR Justin Jefferson misses that one, Osborn will be a volume-based WR4 option. Note, though, that Denver’s pass defense has been excellent lately. The Broncos are up to 13th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) is listed as questionable for Sunday night's game vs. the Broncos. Minnesota also listed Jefferson as questionable last week before ruling him out on Saturday. We'll see whether he's activated from IR this Saturday, but we're not expecting Jefferson to return for the Sunday nighter.

Vikings RB Alexander Mattison (concussion) returned to a limited practice on Thursday. So he's made some progress through the protocol and at least has a chance to be cleared for Sunday night's game vs. the Broncos. We'll get another update on Mattison's status tomorrow.

Vikings WR K.J. Osborn (concussion) was a full participant in Wednesday's practice. He was actually cleared for last weekend's game vs. the Saints, but the team opted to hold him out. Barring a setback, Osborn will play vs. the Broncos on Sunday night. And he'll be a viable WR4 play if WR Justin Jefferson remains out with his hamstring injury.

Vikings RB Alexander Mattison (concussion) did not practice on Wednesday. He's unlikely to be cleared in time to play vs. the Broncos on Sunday night. Mattison's absence would leave Ty Chandler as Minnesota's lead back against the #32 RB defense.

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson appears unlikely to play Sunday against the Broncos. ESPN's Kevin Seifert reports that Jefferson is "continuing to ramp up" in his return from a hamstring injury "but would need to make a lot of quick progress to play Sunday night." That doesn't mean he's out for the week just yet. But you'll need to plan as though you won't have Jefferson in your fantasy lineup. We'll be watching throughout the rest of the week for more updates on the star WR. For now, we've knocked him out of our Week 11 WR rankings and adjusted the projections for teammates such as QB Joshua Dobbs (down) and TE T.J. Hockenson (up).

Vikings LB Jordan Hicks required a hospital "procedure" after developing compartment syndrome Sunday. The situation stemmed from a right shin contusion during the win over the Saints. It's not yet clear how long the Vikings expect Hicks to be out, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that they're signing LB Anthony Barr. That suggests we should at least expect Hicks to miss multiple games. Minnesota has two more before its bye. We'll watch for whether the team places Hicks on IR. Rookie Ivan Pace Jr. has been running as the second non-edge LB throughout the season. A big early-season role dwindled, though, to the point where he played less than 31% of the snaps in four straight games before Sunday. Pace shot up to a season-high 84% with Hicks leaving early against New Orleans. He appears to be the logical next guy up, with Troy Dye, Brian Asamoah (if his injured ankle heals), and Nick Vigil also in the mix. We'll watch for more on the situation ahead of next Sunday's visit to Denver.

Vikings HC Kevin O'Connell wouldn't say Monday whether WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) will be back for Sunday night's game vs. the Broncos. Jefferson will continue to "ramp up" in practice, O'Connell said, after being limited last week. “Nobody wants to be out there more than Justin, maybe with the exception of me wanting him out there," O'Connell said. "But we’ll continue to be smart with Justin and know that when we do get him back, it’ll be a major boost." We'll keep you updated on Jefferson's status throughout the week.

Vikings RB Ty Chandler logged 15 carries for 45 rushing yards and a TD in Week 10 vs. the Saints. It was reasonable to assume the second-year back would elevate into some sort of committee role with fellow RB Cam Akers out for the rest of 2023 with a torn Achilles. But with lead runner Alexander Mattison leaving in the third quarter of the contest with a concussion, it’s possible that fantasy managers could be looking at an incredible waiver wire target in Chandler. He played well on Sunday, is currently the healthiest RB in Minnesota, and the Vikings are set to take on a Broncos defense in Week 11 that ranks 31st in run defense DVOA this season. Be sure to look for his name when making claims in the coming days.

Vikings QB Joshua Dobbs completed 23 of 34 attempts for 268 yards with 1 TD in Week 10 vs. the Saints. The journeyman also added 44 rushing yards and a ground score on Sunday, marking the sixth time in 2023 that Dobbs has rushed for 40+ yards in a game. Also notable is the fact that Dobbs has now scored a rushing TD in four consecutive games dating back to his time as the Cardinals’ starter. With a pair of upcoming games against poor defenses (Broncos, Bears) that rank within the top seven easiest QB matchups per our adjusted fantasy points allowed, season-long managers looking for a streaming option ought to consider looking in Dobbs’ direction.

Vikings RB Alexander Mattison sustained a concussion in the second half of Sunday's game vs. the Saints. That leaves Ty Chandler as Minnesota's lead back for the rest of this one -- and likely in Week 11 against Denver. We'll track Mattison's progress through the protocol this coming week.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson (ribs) is active for today’s game vs. the Saints. ESPN’s Ed Werder said this morning that Hockenson “won’t play as many snaps as normal but will be on field in key situations.” We’re still expecting him to be out there for most pass plays, so Hockenson is fine to keep in Week 10 fantasy lineups.

Vikings WR K.J. Osborn (concussion) is out for today’s game vs. the Saints. He’s cleared the concussion protocol, but the team is opting to hold Osborn out. He should be back for Week 11. Osborn’s absence leaves Minnesota with WRs Jordan Addison, Brandon Powell, Trishton Jackson, N’Keal Harry, and Jalen Nailor. Addison is the only viable fantasy play.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson (ribs) "won’t play as many snaps as normal" vs. the Saints today, according to ESPN's Ed Werder. Hockenson "will be on field in key situations," Werder adds. We'd expect those "key situations" to be pass plays. This is a case where Hockenson's snaps could be down, but his pass routes could be right in line with usual. He carries some added risk today but remains a fine fantasy play at the weak TE position.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport calls Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) "close" to a return. "Jefferson spent the week jumping in practice drills and was seen sprinting without issue before Saturday's walk-thru," Rapoport adds. We'll keep an eye on Jefferson's status this coming week, but there's seemingly a chance that he returns for next Sunday night's game vs. the Broncos.

Vikings WR K.J. Osborn has cleared the concussion protocol. But NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that the team still wants to "check him" today before deciding whether the WR will play against the Saints. We'll watch for Osborn's status when inactive arrive around 11:30 a.m. ET. Osborn sits in just WR4 territory for now in our Week 10 rankings.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson (ribs) is expected to play today vs. the Saints. He's officially questionable, but we've been expecting the TE to go. We'll get confirmation around 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Vikings have downgraded WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) to out for Sunday's game against the Saints and are not yet activating him from IR. They had officially listed him as questionable after Friday's practice, but this has been the expectation all week. We'll check in on Jefferson's status heading toward a Week 11 clash with the Broncos. That game's currently scheduled for Sunday night, which could challenge Jefferson's usability in fantasy lineups if he carries a questionable tag. Beyond that, we'll see whether the Week 13 starts to factor into the decision on when/whether to bring Jefferson back.

Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson (ribs) was limited in practice all week and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game vs. the Saints. He was able to play through this injury last week and should be fine for this weekend's contest. We'll get Minnesota's inactives around 11:30 am ET on Sunday.

Vikings WR K.J. Osborn (concussion) is listed as questionable for this weekend’s game vs. the Saints. He went from no practice on Wednesday to limited participation on Thursday to full-go on Friday. Osborn appears to have a legitimate chance to be cleared in time for Sunday’s game. We should get another update on his status on Saturday.

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